Count Time In Circles
by FlowerPetalsToTheWind
Summary: The world was crashing down. This was a nightmare like no other. Well, like one other. On his knees Jack was forced to realise that Time ran a full circle and history will always repeat itself.
1. The Beginning

**Finally a new bit of reading from FlowerPetalsToTheWind! This is post COE and italics are flashbacks/memories.  
Enjoy and please, please, please review,  
FlowerPetalsToTheWind**

Jack sat back on the bench staring mindlessly at the sky and the passing clouds. He had not been able to stop thinking of Earth since he disappeared that fateful night.

It was a normal day in Cardiff. Good old Earth, back to normal. He was not yet sure of the date, or how long he had been away. Well not in Earth time anyway. He'd travelled the stars to clear his head, had died a couple of times in unfortunate accidents, had completed a fair few adventures and had decided it was time to come back down to Earth again, literally. He lowered his head to the grave stone once more. The flowers surrounding it were fresh, colourful, and beautiful and of course, organised. The man lying in said grave would turn if the flowers had been any other way. He knew who came and did the flowers every week. He had seen her. Without fail, every Sunday, the dying flowers would be changed for new ones and the wilting ones would be watered carefully until they perked up again. A tear crept into the corner of his eye. He wiped it away brusquely, got up and headed off to the city centre, coat billowing in the harsh winter breeze.

* * *

Gwen woke to the soft sound of Rhys snoring. She smiled and slipped out of bed, quietly making it into the shower. It was Rhys' day off and she didn't want to disturb him. She managed to get herself ready for work, heading downstairs she suddenly heard a little thump followed by a "scuffle-scuffle" sound. She smiled, turning around to head back up the stairs. Gwen poked her head in her son's room and smiled as he stood at the door rubbing his eyes. She was reminded of the day he was born:

"_I can't believe it! I've got a son." Rhys repeatedly murmured over and over again as he cradled the new-born in his arms. Gwen smiled, tired but completely happy. "What are we going to name him?" Rhys asked looking up. Gwen frowned, exhaustion clouding her thoughts. "We could call him Rhys Junior?" Rhys continued,_

"_You could be a little more original than that, Rhys." Gwen sighed. Rhys frowned and handed the little bundle back to his mother._

"_He's my first son; I thought Rhys Junior would be brilliant."_

"_I thought perhaps an old Welsh name would be better." Gwen answered, "Dillon or Daffyd or something like that."_

"_I think my great-great-great-great uncle or something was called __Mordwywr?"_

"_Rhys, I'm not calling my baby a name that when he's a teenager can be nick-named Mord. Like Maude, a hairy aunty you never want to kiss." Gwen frowned contemplating._

"_Oh, yeah, I see what you mean." They both sighed deeply again. For months they had been considering names but had not decided on anything._

"_He has to have a name before we leave the hospital." Gwen stated simply._

"_Ok, but I still think Rhys Junior would be cool. When he's a teenager, his friends will just call him Jay or something." Rhys tried again. Gwen thought about it while she watched her baby snuggle into her arms, sleeping softly._

"_Ianto would have helped me with a name." She murmured, her eyes brimming slightly at the memory of her baby talks with Ianto. "I always promised him he could be a Godfather." She smiled still thinking of old times, "And Tosh. Tosh would have loved to have been a Godmother." She choked a little on her tears._

"_Hey now, shh," Rhys came closer and cuddled her and the baby soothingly. He sat comforting her for a few minutes as her tears dried up. "You know, we could always call him Ianto if you wanted." Rhys suggested. Gwen looked up and thought for a few moments._

"_I don't know." She said unsurely, "I don't know if I want the memory."_

"_Look, how about we call him Rhys Ianto Williams. Then he can be Jay for short, and when he's older he'll just be Rhys Jr. So he'll still have a Welsh name." Rhys tried one last time. "And come on, lover, we can always call the next one Dillon." Rhys winked. Gwen laughed and gave in, "Fine, fine! Rhys Ianto Williams it is." The couple smiled at each other. "Little baby Jay." Gwen whispered._

"Sweetie, are you all right?" Gwen asked Jay, smiling as the little boy continued to rub sleep from his eyes.

"Mmm." He managed to mumble.

"That's about the same response I get from your Dad a lot." Gwen continued to smile. Jay looked up and smiled too,

"Is it time for breakfast Mummy?" he asked, a little more awake now.  
"Certainly is." Gwen replied taking his hand and leading him down the stairs.

Jay munched on his cereal happily as Gwen continued getting ready for work and making sure Jay's school things were all together. As she got his correspondence folder out, she noticed a slip of paper. She pulled it out, reading it as she went along. "Jay, did you forget to give me this?" She held the slip of paper up with the Parent-Teacher meeting date and time on it, that was actually today after school.

"Oh yeah, I did." Jay said casually continuing to eat his cereal. Gwen rolled her eyes.

Finally all ready, Gwen left the house with Jay in tow. They got into the car and headed off to Gwen's first destination: school. "Mum, are we going to go feed Myfanwy after school today?" Jay asked.

"No, we've got a Parent meets Teacher thing to go to after school today." Gwen answered automatically, before backtracking, "Jay, you don't talk about Myfanwy at school do you?"

"I used to but people don't think she's real and think I'm talking about a toy so I don't bother anymore." Jay said a little sadly. Gwen glanced over at him.

"Thing is Jay, people don't really understand Mummy's job and sometimes _you_ know more about the world than a lot of adults do. But adults always think they know best so it's better to just agree with them rather than get into trouble, understand?" She explained gently.

"I do. Mummy did you know that I am the only seven year old that knows what a Rift in Time and Space is?"

"How do you know that?" Gwen smiled at Jay's little outburst of knowledge.

"Because at school I asked everybody in my class and they thought it was the name of a new rocket." Jay explained simply.

"Well that might be because all the other kids' parents don't take them to work." Gwen replied, "And I'm starting to think neither should I, you are far too clever for your own good, and I have no idea where you get it from, because it's not from me and it's certainly not from your Dad." Gwen said uncertainly.

"I think it's because I'm seven, Mum. Teachers at school say our brains are like sponges, and when we're seven we can soak up more than older sponges."

"I see. Unfortunately your sponge is soaking up a lot more water than I ever imagined it would."

"Did you also know Mummy; I'm the only one at school that knows what TARDIS stands for? Time And Relative Dimensions In Space." Jay burst again.

"Where did you learn that?" Gwen asked sharply,

"It was on your computer at work, I accidentally clicked the wrong file and this whole thing came up about it, really interesting actually. And there was this profile of this man who's got one, I really want one too. Not even the teachers knew what it meant when I asked them." Gwen looked at Jay in awe as she pulled up outside the school. He looked back steadily completely unaware of his bizarre knowledge. "So anyway Mum, when are we going to feed Myfanwy?" Gwen shook her thoughts,

"Um, I'll get Lois to feed her tonight, you can come help me another night after school when you haven't got any homework." Gwen replied still gaping at her son.

"Ok then, bye Mum!" He called as he left the car.

Gwen sat back in her seat and let out a long breath. Jay was far too clever for an average seven year old. She was going to have to look into this. How much had he taken on board when he came to work with her? She always said she would never let a child of hers enter a world of danger like the one she worked in but when she was stuck for a babysitter one day, she had no choice. Jay had loved it so much as well. He was fascinated by everything, asking questions, and when he got home, begging to be allowed to go back again sometime. Suddenly it became a regular thing. Friday after school he would get picked up and stay at work with Mum until she'd finished. Learnt how to feed the Pteranodon safely and even work the computer files at seven years old. Gwen started to worry now if it was too much too soon for the little boy. She drove off contemplating what to do.

She got to the police station and parked in her usual spot. She headed up to her office and shut the door. She sat down in her comfy chair and blew out a long breath. She thought back to where this had all started.

_After the five days of terror, Gwen had absolutely no idea what to do. She knew that you couldn't do another job after Torchwood. But she had no choice. She returned to her old job and was back on the beat with PC Andy Davidson who was delighted to have her back. She didn't intend on staying though. Work depressed Gwen for months, but when her bank statement__s came in she noticed that her Tochwood salary was still being fed to her account. She started to plan then. Thanks to Ianto, she still had the Tochwood technology on the laptop used in the warehouse. As well as other things she had scvanged. She worked her way up in the police force and now in an office of her own she had restarted Torchwood Three, with help from her new assistant Lois Habiba. After the bomb site was cleared, Gwen had returned to see what was left of the hub. It took a lot of effort for her to go back. She stood outside the Tourist Information office for a long time. Finally she entered and went down to the Hub. The cog wheel was still firmly in place, apart from the glass which had been blown out and still lay on the floor. She held her breath waiting to see if the cog wheel would open or whether it's circuits had been blown to pieces. She closed her eyes as the familiar sound of the wheel churning back to allow her past reached her ears. She sighed, wishing it could be like it used to be and she would see Toshiko tapping lightly on a keyboard, Jack swooning around, Ianto tidying somewhere ready to make her his best coffee and she would be able to hear Owen moaning about something down in the medical bay. But the image of ghosts that had haunted her dreams were not reflected in the old Hub as she opened her eyes. There was nothing left but ash and rubble. The place was nearly completely caved in. Overhead she knew that the council had redone the plass and the fountain had been rebuilt but down here…_

_She breathed shallow breaths so as not to fill her lungs with the dust.__ She felt the tears prick the corner of her eyes, threatening to overspill any second. The memories she had of this place were so precious. There was literally nothing left. The only suriving thing was the Rift itself, though it could no longer be monitored using the tower. She had no idea what had fallen through the Rift, how many weevils that could have possibly gone rogue and no archives to help her. Then again…_

_Climbing through the rubble heading to the long tunnels that had held Torchwood's archives, she knew most of them would be ash on the floor, but this was Torchwood, it should be ready __for things like this. Her footsteps echoed slightly off the concrete walls that were still in place and had managed not to crumble during the explosion. She kept planting one foot in front of the other, her breathing picking up pace as she entered the long winding tunnel. "This is Torchwood. Jack says you have to be ready. So this place must have been ready." Gwen said aloud. She continued walking. The walls were black from the explosion. The continued down. It was completely bare. Any shelving, or storage or anything that had previously been along these walls had been completely destroyed in the blast._

_Gwen kept going forward wondering how far the explosion had gone when she spotted something. The first solid object s__he had seen since she came down that was neither rubble or ash; it was a lone piece of paper. Lying on the floor, she wandered if the energy from the explosion had caused it to be blown from its place like a gust of wind. She bent down slowly and picked it up, its heading read: __**TORCHWOOD REPORT**_

_Gwen smiled at the piece of paper as it sat beautifully undamaged in her hand. She drove onwards trying to find more pieces from the archives, in hope of discovering more paper, and even praying for perhaps an artefact or other object from her old work place._

Gwen shook her head to regain her thoughts. She had a habit of daydreaming nowadays. Memories would just play in the front of her mind from times gone. She started her computer and made a conscious effort to do some work. A cup of coffee was brought to her desk by a rookie scurrying around. She took a sip and coughed. It was luke-warm, instant and far too milky. It was at times like these when she missed Ianto Jones the most and often felt guilty for only wanting her co-worker back just for his coffee sometimes. She smiled and tipped the coffee into a flower pot that someone had placed conveniently on her desk for some reason unbeknown.

* * *

Jack continued his stroll in Cardiff. He had certainly missed it during his travels. He walked past the fountain that once had held the secret beneath it that had become his life. It had been redesigned. It was quite different now. For some reason this made him feel a little sad. It felt as though Torchwood had never existed. He continued with his walk not wanting to stop and reminisce. He seemed to walk for miles around the Welsh city and was just walking past the police station when he saw a sight that flashed a vivid memory at him. An SUV parked in a space near the station caught his eye. It was a black range rover with a number plate he had been sure he would never see again; CF06 FDU. That was _his_ car.


	2. Jack's Back

**Well lovely readers, this is my Xmas present to you, enjoy!  
I hope to get a couple more reviews, (only ONE for the last chapter, thank you lilmisspoppets)  
Chapter 3 is nearly ready, it is in editing stages, so you should have it before Xmas!  
So please, read, review, enjoy!**

**FlowerPetalsToTheWind**

Jack frowned at the vehicle. He was tempted to go over and analyse it in a bit more detail. He quickly glanced around him to check that he could do it inconspicuously. No one gave him a second glance, so he walked quickly over to the SUV. He looked carefully around the familiar car. The side of the windscreen held bars that looked suspiciously like fibre optic lights, as did the back and the sides. The windows were tinted black so he couldn't see anything inside, only perhaps silhouettes of the seats. Jack put his hand on the bonnet and closed his eyes. He walked slowly up the car, his hand still rested on the side of the bonnet until he met grooves in the body work. He traced the letters with his finger. Once he had traced upwards he traced the letters back down so that it was the right way round, T-O-R-C-H-W-O-O-D. He slowly opened his eyes and was greeted with the sight of the word blazoned proudly on the side of the bonnet. He raised an eyebrow in surprise. The vehicle looked maintained and in use. But the last he saw of it, it had been taken by joy-riders. A little confused, Jack headed into the police station.

* * *

Yawning widely, Gwen put her pen down. The whole morning had been spent on paper work. She needed a break. Carefully locking the office door behind her in case anyone were to accidentally enter in her absence, which wouldn't be a good thing, Gwen headed upstairs for some fresh air and natural light. Her office, on her request was in the basement of

the police station, so she was rarely disturbed and it was highly unlikely to be stumbled upon by unwanted visitors. For a long while now, she had not appreciated company at work. Her assistant, Lois was her only visitor and she didn't mind. Her life was her family now. She had learnt that friends brought nothing but sadness and grief. Gwen had had entirely enough sadness and grief for a lifetime. She reached the ground level. She decided to go get her own coffee and have a break. She left a message at the front desk for Lois if she returned before Gwen herself did. As Gwen left, reading a new report she was going to finish while she was in the coffee shop, she heard faintly a voice from memory, an American accent that held a clever tone. She shook her head. She had been reminiscing about Torchwood for far too long, she could even hear Jack's voice reverberate back to her now. Gwen continued walking, looking forward to a hot fresh coffee.

* * *

Jack looked around the large main hall of the police station. He turned 360 degrees slowly. While his back was turned, Torchwood's new leader walked past concentrating on a report in her hand. He went up to the front desk and asked about Torchwood's new location. As he found with most receptionists, the attractive red-head in front of him was giving him the usual jargon of not knowing and if she did, she would not be able to give out that piece of information. Jack smiled charmingly and moved closer towards the receptionist. She smiled back sweetly and repeated her last statement. He continued to smile back and flirtatiously asked, "But if you did know, and by looking at your bright, intelligent eyes, you do, you wouldn't tell me correct?"

"That is correct." She answered, refusing to budge.

"But if I told you that my name is Captain Jack Harkness, would that make me authorised to know the new location of Torchwood?" He asked,

"According to my records, Captain Jack Harkness was reported dead a few years ago. And even if he were alive, and you were him, you would still not be authorised to know, that if Torchwood still even existed, where it was located, or even who was running it. Now if you do not remove yourself from this desk, I will call security and have you forcefully removed." She smiled sweetly. Jack stood back.

"Fine, thanks for your help." He winked with his remaining dignity and left. Receptionists had toughened since he last had to charm one. Or was his charm wearing off? No that wasn't possible. It was definitely the receptionists.

However, Jack of all people knew there was more than one way to skin a cat. He wandered out of the building under the watchful eye of the red-head. He waited for about half an hour. He then dared to look back into the police station. The receptionist had gone, assumingly on a break or finished her shift. The new receptionist was a young man, who looked rather inexperienced. So Jack walked confidently up to the desk and asked the man the same question. "Uh, are you Mr. Jack Harkness?" he asked attentively,

"Captain, yes." Jack corrected.

"I've been told to call security if you come back." The young man then continued. Jack's smile faltered; damn that red-head was good.

"No need to do that, I was only asking. If you can't tell me, you can't tell me." Jack smiled. The man smiled back shyly. "I just have to see an old friend, is PC Andy Davidson available?" Jack asked,

"Oh yes, Andy will be upstairs doing paperwork today." The young man looked pleased to be able to help. He gave Jack directions.

"Thanks." Jack winked, and the young man blushed and went back to looking at his computer. "Still got it." Jack said to himself on his way upstairs.

Jack knocked and entered before waiting for an answer. Andy was sitting at a desk looking a little haggard with all the paperwork surrounding him. He looked up when Jack entered. "Oh my God." Was the only thing Andy managed to say. "What the bloody hell are you doing here?" He followed with.

"Hi PC Andy, nice to see you too." Jack replied smoothly. "PC Cooper about?" he asked casually.

"Mrs _Williams_ doesn't work here any more." Andy answered.

"Oh really? What she doing nowadays?"

"She got promoted, so you won't find her here." Andy was purposefully being vague. "And if she wanted you to know what she was doing, wouldn't she have told you herself?" Andy grinned.

"She probably will when I find her. But I need to do the finding part first." Jack replied.

"Have you ever thought she might not want to be found? Especially by you?" Andy asked.

"Of course she wants me to find her. What would she do without me?" Jack said confidently.

"Perhaps do well for herself and not be living in your shadow and ego?" Andy answered.

"Ouch, that hurt a little." Jack said sarcastically. "Look, I saw my car outside and there is only one person who could be driving it, so just tell me where she is." Jack said.

"Oh that's your car is it? Last time I checked, that SUV had Torchwood written on it, and you don't work for Torchwood anymore, so it's not really yours is it?" Andy said smugly.

"I AM Torchwood. Now where's Gwen?" Jack was losing his patience now. Andy could tell but he wasn't going to give up.

"Look, I'm not Gwen's keeper; how the bloody hell should I know where she is?" Andy tried to look innocent.

"You may not be her keeper, but you're pretty much her stalker, so spill." Jack shot back.

"Ouch that hurt a little too." Andy avoided the question.

"Andy." Jack said with a threatening tone.

"Probably out getting coffee?" Andy said with little conviction. Jack sighed,

Jack raised an eyebrow suspiciously. He held Andy's gaze for a few moments, waiting for Andy to back down. But Andy continued to just sit there and smile. Reluctantly defeated, though he would never admit it, Jack stormed out. Andy leant back in his chair grinning. He did in fact know that about this time Gwen really was out getting coffee, had in fact not lied at all and Jack still was none the wiser.

"If that man could run special ops then I could be bloody Prime Minister." Andy said to himself chuckling and carrying on with his mounted paperwork.

* * *

Gwen sipped the hot coffee, still reading through the report on a rather complicated piece of alien tech that had drifted ashore off the quay last week. She hardly understood the techno babble that Lois had included but her thoughts drifted to her son, wondering how much of it he would understand and worried that it might be more than perhaps he should. She sighed and put the report down. Instead she cupped the steaming mug and breathed the scent of the freshly made coffee in and it instantly made her feel a little better. How could so much be going on in her life? It was supposed to be getting better but stress after stress insisted on coming her way. As if to make matters worse as she stared out of the coffee shop window. She saw a ghost. The long dark RAF coat and the man in it were striding along the street as if looking for something. Instinctively Gwen ducked down as who appeared to be Jack Harkness wandered past. After he had gone past the window by a few metres, she got up again. She looked around and found a couple of other customers staring at her. She smiled and turned back towards her work, flicking her hair in front of her face so she couldn't see those who had continued to stare. But her mind was no longer on the alien tech, not even on Jay, but on the ghost, who had walked past, Jack Harkness wasn't back, it wasn't possible. He'd vanished. Into the sky! He was gone for good. For God's sake, he'd been declared dead! Gwen had truly believed that he wasn't coming back. She peered out the window. But she could no longer see him. She sat back in her chair and took a few deep breaths. "Right, that is certainly enough of a break, I'm starting to dream!" Gwen mumbled to herself. She headed back to work but couldn't help but look behind her every few minutes, with that prickly feeling on the back of her neck, the sense of being followed. Gwen did not like the feeling of not being in control. It was all Jack Harkness' fault. She quickened her pace, wanting to hurry even more to get back to work.

When she finally arrived back, Bee, the lovely flame haired receptionist called her over. "Gwen! I'm glad you're back. There's been a man hanging around all day looking for you, also wanting to know about Torchwood."

"Did he leave a name?" Gwen felt she knew and feared the answer,

"He reckoned his name was Jack Harkness, Captain Jack Harkness. But that's impossible isn't it? Records say he's dead." Bee said cautiously. Gwen smiled.

"Yeah, he's dead, could be any nutter, couldn't it? Saw the SUV, just wanted to try and find something." She laughed nervously.

"Well he looked very much like the profile picture." Bee said also very nervously.

"Bee, there are antique shops and shops that sell hair dye all over Wales." Gwen smiled. Bee didn't look very convinced so Gwen changed the subject, "Lois back?"

"Uh, yeah, she's down in your office." Bee answered.

"Ok, thanks. Don't worry about it Bee, I get it all the time." Gwen tried to sound convincing. Bee tried to smile back before continuing with her work. Gwen's smile also dropped quickly and she tried her hardest to not run all the way back to her office. She finally reached the door let herself in and shut the door leaning against it with a sigh. Lois looked up a little startled. Gwen looked grim, "Jack's back."


	3. Something Special

**Another chapter for you. This story may look like it's not going places and not relevant to the summary but trust me, you'll need the background info. So enjoy it, absorb it, review it!  
AN- Remember Italics= Flashback/memory :)**

**FlowerPetalsToTheWind**

"What?" Lois managed.

"Jack! I saw him! And Bee even said he's been here. Here! He saw the SUV I bet. Finished gallivanting around the galaxy and bloody came back!" Gwen collapsed into her chair. "I mean, he wasn't supposed to come back. I wasn't supposed to see him again! I was sure I'd be dead before Jack bloody Harkness landed back on Earth!" Gwen continued to rant and rave for a few minutes. Lois sat patiently watching, allowing her boss to blow off all her steam before she said anything. "How can this be possible? I know he can't die but couldn't have just pretended to? Let me live in bloody peace? All he brings is trouble and grief and I've finished with that! I don't need that anymore! I have a nice house, a nice family, I'm head of Torchwood. I was fine. Why now?" Gwen seemed to have finished. She was breathing heavily. Lois cleared her throat quietly to get Gwen's attention, her head snapped round to face Lois, her hair a little messy and eyes bulging a little panicked.

"Why don't you let me handle Jack? He'll come sniffing around again and he will find us because he doesn't back down, does he? Now you have a parent meets teacher meeting with Jay. So just go to the meeting, cool down then come back with a clear head and we'll sort this mess out. In the mean time, I have a rogue weevil downstairs that needs attending to, a pteranodon to feed and some paperwork that really needs doing. So Jack Harkness can wait, can't he?" Lois ended cheerily.

"Yes. You're right. I have a meeting. Jack can wait. Thank you." Gwen said breathlessly. She stood up, straightened her jacket and set to go out the door. As she opened it to step out she knocked straight into Jack. She gasped in surprise, Jack grinned.

"I knew you missed me." He said sarcastically. Gwen looked up into his face, scowling.

"If you heard any of our conversation, then you already know I have more pressing matters to attend to. You will have to wait." She said simply and stormed past him.

Jack looked a little shocked. He looked up to Lois smiling professionally at him.

"Would you like to take a seat? The boss will be back in an hour or so." Jack looked surprised.

"Boss? And actually, I didn't hear any of your conversation." He said.

"Yes: boss. Gwen has been head of Torchwood Three for five years now. She also re-established Torchwood One and is one of the three heads of Torchwood London. She rebuilt the liaison with Torchwood Two and is an executive there too." Lois filled in quickly.

"Still no sign of Torchwood Four then?" Jack said half jokingly.

"No actually. But that's next on her agenda; she's been quite busy recently. For some reason, there has been a lot of Rift activity here." Lois added helpfully. "Come to think of it, doesn't have anything to do with you does it?" She asked.

"Me?"

"Yes, you came through, now we are busy with activity. Did you aggravate something in the Rift? Or leave a hole?"

"Or maybe it's just coincidence?"

"Has anything involving you ever been a coincidence?" Lois looked a little accusingly at him.

"When did you become so cheeky?" He dodged

"Since I joined Torchwood." Lois retorted quickly. Jack pondered this for a moment.

"So anyway, where's she gone?"

"She's got a meeting, like I said; she'll be back in about an hour. Would you like to take a seat?"

"And you?"

"I have this and that to be doing." she answered vaguely.

"This being..." Jack waved as if to continue her sentence. Lois sighed at his persistence,

"A weevil and pteranodon to attend to." Jack smiled,

"Oh did Janet survive the blast?"

"Janet?"

"The weevil."

"I have never come across a weevil named Janet. I brought this one in this afternoon, out and about instead of being in the sewers. Gone a little rogue I think."

"Oh." Jack said a little disappointedly, even though she was seriously anti social, Jack had taken a liking to Janet. "So, what's happened to my car?"

"Your car?"

"Yes, the SUV."

"Oh, the Torchwood SUV? That's _Gwen's_ car. It was salvaged from a village a few miles away after being joy ridden into a ditch. Not much damage to the interior. Bodywork needed tending to but it's all still there, the same, if not a little updated." Lois explained. Jack nodded his head. Then another thought occurred to him,

"Gwen seems very, err," Jack searched the right word, "'high up' in Torchwood" He finished.

"Yes well, Gwen has been head of Torchwood for five years." Lois answered simply. "I have already explained this to you, were you paying attention?" Lois frowned.

"Yes I was paying attention, but it's a lot to take in, don't you think? Last time I was here, Torchwood had been blown to bits, there was only one remaining survivor of my team and the government was trying to assassinate me. A little has changed so excuse me for not absorbing it all in the last five minutes!" Jack's voice began to rise. Lois was taken back. She hadn't really thought about it that way. She looked back down at her screen to avoid eye contact, thinking about his earlier question, "When did you become so cheeky?" She hadn't really noticed. Yes Torchwood had brought her out of her shell a bit. But had she let it get carried away? Was she becoming like those operatives she had watched stalk around, arrogance swirling around them like a poison, looking like they thought they owned everything. She thought back to earlier in the week when Torchwood had been called onto a scene.

_It was afternoon, cloudy; looking like it was soon to rain. But she had stepped out of the SUV with Gwen, wearing shades, a long black coat billowing behind her. She flicked her ID out and didn't even bother looking at the police guarding the tape. She went up to it announced, "Torchwood." Flashed the ID in the officers' face and stepped under the tape. Walking intently to the crime scene, which, to an observer, would simply have radiated arrogance. The crime scene was a Cardiff flat, extremely normal, ground floor flat, the newly painted council walls still smelling of fresh paint, masking the smell that was hiding in the regular looking apartment. However when she entered, the stench of old, shed blood hit her nostrils, the stale, sweet smell of it congealing off the walls and around her, surrounding her, filling her head with the thoughts of what lay in front. She finally reached the body of what appeared to be a human corpse. But unlike the flat, there was nothing normal about the corpse. The blood was tinged yellow, like an infection, the skin, was white but covered with strange black markings and the terrified eyes still staring from beneath a mop of dirty yellow, not blonde hair, were also a florescent yellow, and slit like cat's eyes. Lois looked at Gwen who was still staring hard at the body. Gwen sighed, pulled a latex glove from her pocket and as she slipped it on, bent down to the head of the body. Lois stepped back, a little repulsed that Gwen had gone near it. But she continued to watch as Gwen slowly used her glove hand to shut the corpse's vivid yellow eyes closed. The smells and sights of spattered old blood, rotting flesh, massacred splatters of body parts, alien parts, weapons from the Rift, damage from the Rift, artefacts from the Rift, no longer fazed Lois. It was part of her job. But seeing Gwen bend down towards one of these sights had brought a sudden wave of nausea that had told her mind, she definitely would never do that. Never have even thought of doing it. But Gwen... Gwen wasn't looking at the blood, wasn't thinking of the smell, she merely saw a creature, that deserved respect, like any creature, from any where. She had shown it that respect and had closed its eyes, as most do to a person out of respect. "This will need a clean up crew and a relatively high level of Retconning. No more officers are to be allowed in here, is that understood?" Gwen had turned to Lois who nodded and set to work on her instructions. She turned back to see Gwen taking off the glove and placing it in the kitchen bin before turning to exit as well. She saw Lois staring and raised her eyebrows as to question Lois' sudden freeze frame. Lois faltered, "Uh, doesn't that tamper with evidence?" She asked. _

_"Lois, you've been working with Torchwood for five years, you of all should know, there __**is **__no evidence." Gwen told her sadly before stepping out of the flat, pulling out her mobile to contact the clean up team, still barking at officers to stay back, Torchwood were taking care of it._

"No matter what, she still cares." Lois said out loud.

"What?" Jack asked a little puzzled at this sudden announcement after she had been so quiet for a few minutes. Lois looked up a little startled.

"Gwen. She always cares. Even when she looks and acts like the boss, her heart is always in it." Lois said slowly as if realising something she had missed for a long while. "That's why she never looks arrogant or, or, cold. Even as the head, she doesn't stop caring for any of it." Jack looked carefully at Lois. She looked back at him, "You asked me earlier, why was I so cheeky, remember?" She asked. Jack nodded recalling the small argument/conversation. "I thought about it. Because I wasn't before, was I? But Gwen, even after everything and how long she has been here, she's never looked or acted like the rest. She always stood out, never looking arrogant, just in control, it's because she cares!" Lois exclaimed, laughing slightly. "People have always said, haven't they? "Torchwood, think they own it all." But no one ever says anything against Gwen personally, have you ever got that?" Lois looked back at Jack. Jack stood there and smiled.

"Now you see why I chose her, can't you? See why she stood out to me. After Suzie, there was no other candidate. She brought something to Torchwood no one else ever could. She brought heart to it. She certainly taught me to care more, but it was always her strength, not mine, but she kept me grounded and in reality, with feelings" Jack thought back to when he worked with Gwen. "But how? How did she make Torchwood practically like an empire? I know she's smart and has a heart, but she's definitely something special to produce this." Jack asked, looking around at the office, which conveyed tell tale signs of extra terrestrial spark.

"Well she came back here, worked her way up the police force very quickly, secured herself an office, talked to the right people, restarted Torchwood Three. With that running successfully, she disappeared for a few weeks. Calls me from London, Torchwood One is back online, with Gwen at the head. Torchwood Two ring, Gwen's also been up there, having meetings, talking, suddenly she is an executive." Lois explained briefly. Jack looked at her in awe.

"All on her own?" He asked incredulously,

"All on her own." Lois confirmed. Jack chuckled a little in disbelief. He sat down on a chair provided just as the door opened. Gwen entered the room looking a lot less frazzled than she had previously looked. She took in a large breath, exhaled slowly and walked past Jack without looking at him. She went a door to the side of Lois' desk and shut it with a snap. Jack looked at Lois with a little confusion on his face but only found it reflected in hers. Jack shrugged his shoulders and asked, "So, do I go in?"

"Uh, no, best not, just, just wait." Lois said a little nervously.

"Damn, I've never had to ask before." Jack said. Lois looked back at him and he winked. Lois had never been a fan of innuendo and had just realised she probably wouldn't get on with Jack Harkness very well. A couple of minutes past. Lois was sure she heard Gwen pacing in her office. Suddenly her office phone buzzed, line one, Gwen. She picked up the receiver and all she heard was a sigh and,

"Send him in." She put the receiver down carefully. Jack kept watching her expectantly. She nodded her head slightly. He smiled, flashing white teeth, bounded up and entered Gwen's office.


	4. The Empire

**Finally! FPTTW wrote that bloody chapter!**

**I had originally written these characters in before the new Doctor Who Special was broadcast. But after it was, I had to rewrite the chapter because RTD ideas and my ideas conflicted ever so slightly. But to keep it the way it was would have made my story inaccurate to the real story written by the Doctor Who team. So here is the new version. Hopefully you'll enjoy it. Reviews would definitely be appreciated for this chapter.**

**FlowerPetalsToTheWind**

The room was surprisingly large. The wall space was covered with filing cabinets, book shelves, computer monitors and such. To Jack, it reminded him of the Hub and so he felt, for the first time in a very long time, a little at home. The only wall not covered by this stuff was the one to Jack's right which had two simple looking, polished, wooden doors leading to the unknown. As his concentration returned to the back of the office, where a large desk spread to most of the back of the room, he met the gorgeous dark eyed glare of Gwen. The raven haired leader gave a short nod which Jack took as a hint to stop standing at the door staring like an idiot but sit down and prepare for a bollicking. He sat down in the chair provided and stared back at Gwen. He bit back a comment which he knew, by the steely glare he was looking at, would probably earn him a slap. She seemed to be waiting, staring expectantly. Jack laughed to break the silence, "I turn my back for a minute and look what you get up to. I mean-"

"Seven years Jack." Gwen cut in.

"Yeah about that-" Jack started.

"The world was coming to terms with the five days of terror and you disappear into the sky." Gwen tone was low and dangerous, her police interrogation instincts shining through.

"Gwen I'm so sorry, I-" Jack tried again,

"Look Jack I don't have time to listen to an apology. I'm not looking for one. I expected it. We all have different ways of dealing with things. Running away just seems to be your way. Mine is to buckle down and help as many people as I can, which is why after you left I landed back in the police force." Gwen's glare had softened as her large dark eyes bore into Jack's dazzling blue ones. Jack hesitated,

"So is Torchwood a police thing now?" He said his lip curling slightly in disgust.

"God no, it has no ties to the police. But where else do I go Jack? The Hub was destroyed. I didn't even know if Torchwood would exist anymore. But you know what it's like Jack. You can't go back after Torchwood, can't have a normal job." Gwen sighed bowing her head as if to inspect her folded arms. Jack kept gazing at her. She looked tired. She looked older than he remembered.

"Seven years." He mumbled to himself. Gwen looked up again.

"Seven years." She repeated, almost like confirmation. Jack didn't like the silence or the subject and so decided to change it,

"Is this it then? Torchwood?" He took a second look around the room.

"No, not all of it. This is just my office slash boardroom." She gestured. "I may be head but I'm not vain Jack, this bloody great desk isn't just for me." She said. Jack smiled seeing a familiar glint in her eye. But he could still see the cold steel there staring at him. Unforgiveness. But it was mixed with warmth that only Gwen showed. He was a little confused so uncharacteristically didn't say much. Gwen stood up. Jack copied the motion. She came round the desk and stood next to him.

"I see you hired Lois." Jack commented.

"Of course." Gwen smiled. "But it's not just Lois and I." Gwen walked over to one of the doors Jack had noticed earlier. "There is no longer a Rift manipulator but we make do with salvaged technology and are able to monitor it from here and what comes through. Though it's nearly as good as it was by the tower, things often slip under the radar but we do what we can." She opened the door. "Our head of computing and monitoring is in charge of this room and it's contents but of course he doesn't sit in here alone, we all give a helping hand." Showing Jack her new work seemed to have cheered Gwen up a bit and she was smiling as she headed into the room which was just as big as the one they had left if not bigger. It was full of technology, some that Jack recognised, and others he didn't. There were computers, monitors, gadgets, weapons and work stations suspiciously similar to those that had been in the Hub. Jack noticed someone sitting at one of the workstations. It was Lois; she had somehow entered this room obviously through another entrance. She was laughing with a man sitting in a chair at another of the work stations, who had his back to Gwen and Jack. Gwen walked over to him, "This is our Head of Computing and Monitoring." She said. The man turned around and grinned as he looked up at only man he knew that wore an old RAF great coat.

"Look at you Captain Jack!" He said with a London accent. Jack looked gob smacked,

"Mickey!" He exclaimed with utter surprise. "Mickey Smith! Is that you?"

"The one and only." Mickey replied still grinning.

"I'd never actually met Mickey until five years ago when he contacted me when he heard Torchwood Three was back online." Gwen explained. "Now, I don't know where I'd be without him."

"What can I say Boss? Computer genius that's me." Mickey grinned cheekily.

"Mickey helped me reboot the Torchwood system." Gwen continued to explain. "I had some of the technology; remember what we used in the warehouse? I just needed to expand it and reboot it; Mickey seemed to know what he was doing straight away so of course I had to persuade him to stay." Gwen finished smiling at Mickey. Jack grinned too.

"Ah persuasion, my forte." He said, his eyes glazing slightly, obviously reminiscing.

"Not you're sort of persuasion Jack." Gwen sighed, Mickey laughed. "Anyway, we have a tour to complete and you have work to do." Gwen directed the last bit at Mickey.

"Course Boss." Mickey twirled back round in his chair to face his screen. Gwen rolled her eyes, she'd been trying to get Mickey to stop calling her "Boss" for as long as she could remember but just call her Gwen. He never seemed to kick the habit though. Gwen walked over to Lois with Jack behind her. He felt like a child being shown around a new school.

"You've already met Lois." Lois turned around and smiled.

"Ah Lois Habiba, I remember you. Our dazzling little helper." Jack grinned.

"Yes well, she's a little more than a helper now. What would you say your job is Lois?" Gwen asked.

"Well we all just mingle together, but I suppose if you wanted to give me a job title, I'm very much like a secretary? Oh and the Archivist." Lois responded. Gwen nodded in agreement. Jack felt a stab of pain in his chest. He just nodded without saying anything. Gwen looked up and saw that fresh sadness in his eyes. She took his hand.

"Thank you Lois." She said and pulled gently to get Jack to move with her. They left the room the way they had come in and were back in the boardroom. Gwen opened her mouth but Jack shushed her.

"I know Gwen. It's just hard. I'm sorry." Jack said sadly.

"No Jack, I'm sorry." She pulled him in and hugged him tightly and she felt him choke back some tears.

"I think I really loved him." Jack said pulling away slightly to look into Gwen's face.

"I know that he really loved you." Gwen said, now also holding back tears.

"So who makes the coffee now?" Jack asked, with a short hiccup of laughter.

"No one. We go to the coffee shop around the corner." Gwen said quietly. Jack nodded.

"Yeah." Was all he could say. She took his hand again.

"I have a couple more places to show you." She said and led him to the second door. They walked through together and Jack was greeted by a powerful smell of sterilisation. This room was brighter than the other two had been. It was whitewashed with shining white tiles. Jack knew straight away that this was a medical room. There were two rooms off to the side that had three out of four walls that were made of glass. They held comfortable beds and numerous amounts of medical equipment within them. Back in the main room there was also numerous medical instruments and other various pieces of equipment. Some which didn't look very Earth like. The room had a gurney which sat in the corner with various other things that looked like equipment for emergencies, including a portable surgery kit lying on top of it and settled in a glass cabinet that was on the corner of the room, so it was triangular with two glass doors. The room also held a mortuary slab right at the back of the room behind another glass wall and door, which someone was bent over, clearly examining something that was lying on the slab. Gwen strode straight over to the mortuary. At the door there was a call button. Gwen pressed it. The person that was examining the corpse straightened up carefully and laid her instruments down with the same care. She switched off the recorder that was recording the autopsy and turned around. For the second time that day Jack was in complete shock. Martha Jones stepped through the glass door and shut it again with a push of a button on the control panel. She smiled graciously at Jack.

"Look at you Martha Jones!" Jack exclaimed scooping her into a hug. Martha laughed and hugged Jack back. "I didn't think I'd see you back in Cardiff." Jack said still smiling.

"Yeah well, got married and wanted to settle down." Martha answered waggling her left hand which held a beautiful, dainty diamond ring and a wedding band. "I'd worked in London with my husband for a few years but we wanted to settle more. Plus hubby had been pursuading me for a long while to leave UNIT. It was through UNIT that I heard Torchwood had reappeared. I had gone freelance for a bit but you know, I did actually miss you guys. I've been working for Gwen for, how long is it?" Martha asked. Gwen shrugged trying to remember when Martha had come over.

"Two or three years now, isn't it?" Gwen replied. Martha lit up remembering now,

"Oh yeah. Three years next month." She agreed.

"So who's the lucky man?" Jack said to her still laughing.

"Didn't he tell you when you were in Room 3? It's Mickey." She replied, also laughing. Jack's eyebrows rose. He certainly was a little surprised. Martha laughed more seeing his face. "Well I didn't expect to see you back in Cardiff."

"Who could stay away from Cardiff?" Jack said humorously, "And Gwen." He added, looking her up and down suggestively. Gwen rolled her eyes for the second time that day. Everybody laughed.

"So if Mickey's been here five years how come you've only been here three?" Jack asked when he remembered Mickey talking to him earlier.

"Like I said, I've been freelance. Mickey had come here to help Gwen when we heard she was restarting Torchwood. Mickey's been helping her start up the Torchwood system here, in London and up in Glasgow. But he decided he liked Wales and it took two years to persuade me to settle down."

"Martha Jones, you are stubborn." Jack said, a smile creasing the corners of his mouth and an eyebrow rose smartly. They all began laughing again. When Gwen had sobered she finally said,

"Well, I have one more room to show you Jack and we can't keep Martha distracted as you can see, she's in the middle of an autopsy." Jack finally had view of the corpse on the slab. It was humanoid in shape but it was whiter than the tiles behind it.

"We were called in on this one last week." Gwen told him. "Found him in a flat not far from here. Complete mess everywhere. It looked like he'd been attacked. But you never know, he could have been the attacker who underestimated his prey but I doubt that. His face suggested more, it looked scared or horrified." Gwen said softly. "But we'll leave it to Martha to find out. Come on, one more room." She took Jack's hand again they both waved back at Martha who was applying a new set of gloves and getting back to work.

Again they were back in the boardroom. Jack looked around but couldn't see another door so was wondering where they would go. Gwen led him back the way he had first come in. Back in what appeared to Jack as Torchwood's new Reception area, Gwen let go of his hand and walked over to the small desk that Lois had been sitting at when Jack had first arrived. She picked up the telephone and pressed line 3. She waited a few moments before she got an answer,

"Hi Lois, can you unlock Room 4 please?" She asked. She paused as she got an answer. She smiled, "Thanks." And put the phone down. Suddenly a panel in the wall to the left opened. Jack raised an eyebrow, he was a little surprised, he had to admit. Gwen walked over to the new hole in the wall and waited. "Are you coming then?" She asked. Jack smiled, his old shine back,

"Hell yeah!" He bounded over eager to know what Gwen had hidden behind this secret panel. He followed her into the corridor which was lit with small lights at intervals. The corridor looked relatively long however after a few yards it turned sharply to the left. Gwen who had been in front of him disappeared briefly as she rounded the sharp bend. Jack noticed the corner and rounded it too. However he stopped short. It appeared Gwen had disappeared. He stopped. He had come face to face with a blank concrete wall. "Well, if you wanted to dump me you could have just said." Jack said with an eyebrow raised. Suddenly the concrete wall in front of him shuddered. It then began to rise. When it had finished, there was yet another hole in the wall.

"I never realised I'd picked you up to begin with." Gwen answered; she looked quite smug standing on the inside of the wall next to a leaver. Jack walked through the new door way. "This is the part of Torchwood that not even our landlord above knows about." Gwen's eyes glanced upwards to the Police HQ above. Jack grinned,

"So what do you hide in here?" He asked.

"What we don't want found." She replied cryptically. She continued to walk down the new corridor and Jack followed. This corridor was a little longer than the last. Jack continued to follow Gwen as she walked purposefully forwards.

"You know if you wanted to play Seven Minutes in Heaven you could have picked a smaller closet." Jack commented as they walked on still. Gwen didn't even bother to turn around. They finally arrived at an opening and Jack smiled. There were rows and rows of shelves, glass tanks, and cabinets and then Jack noticed a flight of metal stairs. "Where do they lead?" He asked Gwen nodding at the stairs. Gwen smiled,

"The hothouse." She said, "Did you want to see?" She headed towards the stairs.

"Hang on, what's this place first." Jack asked as he headed over to meet Gwen at the bottom of the metal stairs.

"This is basically our archives. But we keep anything here that we don't want found by anyone who might accidentally find us. Obviously we're not as secure as we were back at the Hub, so, the morgue is down here, we have a couple of vaults, untested alien technology, a small, well very small firing range, but we use the Police's firing range as well. But sometimes Mickey and Martha like to test our foreign tech and weapons down here so they use the firing range." She explained.

"Is that what they tell you they're doing down here?" Jack's eyebrows were raised yet again. Gwen's lips twitched with a smile.

"We also keep most of our other weapons down here, any junk that has come from the Rift, any _thing_ that has come through the Rift and any plant that has come through the Rift. Speaking of plants let me show you the Hothouse." She started to head up the metal stairs. Jack followed; his hand twitched as he thought of giving her behind a quick slap but forced himself to stop as he knew that he would surely get a slap back, or worse.

They reached the top of the stairs and Jack realised that he was on a platform, not another level. In front of him was what appeared to be a giant greenhouse. Gwen was already inside. Jack had noticed that she appeared particularly excited about the hothouse, more than any other part of, what Jack could only described as her Empire. He entered the hothouse and could immediately smell the typical odours of greenery. Again Gwen took his hand and lead him to a bench that was lower that all the others. She started speaking to Jack again but he suddenly had no idea what she was on about, "Jay seems to love the Hothouse, he's always down here with Lois. This seems to be his pet project," she gestured at a plant that is in the middle of the bench, it looked like a typical plant except it kept spurting bubbles out of it's blossoms, "They're doing plants at school-" When Gwen said this, alarm bells rang in Jack's head and he cut her off,

"School? Gwen, have you put Torchwood on the Work Experience lists or something? Who's Jay?" Jack was completely confused. Gwen's smile slipped slightly,

"Jay's my son Jack. Remember? I was six months pregnant when you left." She answered. Suddenly everything slotted into place as Jack had a brief flashback of seeing Gwen at the top of that hill, Rhys standing a little way behind and she stood there with a small bump protruding out, moments before he pressed that button on his wrist strap. She had a son. He would be about seven, nearly eight now. Jay.

"You bring him to Torchwood?" Jack asked incredulously. Gwen looked down at the floor, she looked genuinely uncomfortable.

"I didn't want to but I was stuck for a babysitter one day. He loved it so much; it's hard to keep him away." She said, her eyes shining. Jack didn't know if they were tears or pride welling in her eyes.

"So let me guess, he wanted to take this extra-terrestrial plant in for show and tell?" Jack asked still in disbelief.

"You don't understand Jack. He's so different. He takes things on board that other kids wouldn't think twice about. He learns things so quickly. Add that to his natural curiosity and it would be punishing him to not let him come back." Gwen sounded a little exasperated. Jack frowned. "You're not in charge anymore Jack. And you certainly can't tell me how to be a parent." Gwen finished. She stood there for a moment and they were locked in a stare. But she quickly broke it and stormed back down the stairs. She continued back the way they had come in and left Jack alone. He stood in the hothouse on his own. The only sound breaking the silence was a little pop as Jay's plant spurted more bubbles.


	5. Countdown

**Ok, it's been about half a year since I was on here, but trust me, it was a very busy half a year! I hope, really hope that this chapter will have been worth the wait. Hopefully my updates might become more regular again.  
****(For any American readers, you may notice in the text I used the word "lift" in a description, if you don't already know, it just means "Elevator")**

**FlowerPetalsToTheWind**

Jack stood there stunned at Gwen's outburst. He didn't know if he should feel awkward, as that didn't come naturally to him. So he thought he'd at least finish looking at Gwen's plants, it would give her time to calm down.

Out in the corridor Gwen stopped suddenly. She was hot-headed, but she wasn't stupid. How could she have just left Jack to his own devices in a room with plenty of alien technology? He would surely snoop around and before she knew it he would have taken control of Torchwood again and all her hard work and new morals she had set up in the establishment would have been for nothing. Gwen sighed and turned on her heel and trudged back.

On her arrival, Jack looked up; he was a little surprised she had come back. Perhaps her stubbornness had decreased in the last 7 years. She climbed back up to the hothouse and stood a couple of metres from Jack, waiting for him to finish his analysis on her plant. He straightened up and the atmosphere was no longer one of a slightly excited reunion.

"So…" Jack's awkward sentence trailed off. Gwen's previous enthusiasm had worn off. Spurts of bubbles routinely escaped Jay's plant during the uncomfortable silence. Gwen was seemingly examining it intently but it was clear that it was merely to avoid Jack's gaze. Jack tried again, "So…" hoping this might egg Gwen on into actually saying something. Suddenly Gwen however, merely stopped looking at the bubbles and as quick as lightning flashed down the stairs of the hothouse. Jack, due to being a little stunned by the turn of events, delayed before pursuing.

Gwen no longer cared; she didn't care if he took over Torchwood, or even the world! She just knew that every time Jack turned up, something bad happened and she didn't want to have to be involved this time. She had to get as far away from him as she could. She had a family now, risking her life wasn't a thrill-seek anymore.

By the time he emerged back in the main office, Gwen had vanished. "Lois? Have you seen Gwen?" he asked the secretary. She looked up, an unimpressed look defining her features.

"I only met you briefly, and that was nearly a decade ago but you must be a right arsehole to have upset Gwen like that in the two minutes you've been here." That was Lois' gracious reply. Jack paused for a couple of seconds, confusion clouding his thoughts momentarily. Lois appeared to not want to be of anymore help so Jack headed towards the exit.

Just as he reached the handle, the alarm sounded, the piercing noise seemingly filled every room. Jack's hand recoiled as if he'd been electrocuted, assuming it had been him that had set it off. Lois disappeared and Jack was left alone with the alarm. He went over to Lois' desktop. The computer had a large "Red Alert!" sign flashing madly on the computer screen. It then shrunk as a window popped up showing a basic, (almost crude, it seemed, to Jack) Rift Analysis. It had a large black mass on the digital charter; the mass was heading towards Earth.

Jack ran back to the door and wrenched it open. He ran out of the police station and looked up into the sky. It was clouding and darkening, as something forced its way through. Something bad. And Gwen wouldn't know about it.

Jack's eyes located the vacant parking spot that the SUV normally sat in. Gwen definitely didn't hear the alarm. At that moment Lois came running out of the station, eyes wide with panic. She too immediately located the spot normally habited by the Torchwood SUV. Her shoulders significantly sagged as she too realised Gwen had left. Jack's brow furrowed questioningly. Lois jogged over to him and held out her hand. Gwen's mobile sat in her palm. "She's not at home according to Rhys." Lois said. Her look had become one of despair.

Suddenly, Martha and Mickey emerged from the police station, following suit in looking for Gwen's car and then jogging over to Jack and Lois. "That weren't the fire drill, you know." Mickey said when he caught up, "Where's Gwen?" he asked.

"Good question." Lois nodded, looking at Jack.

"Look, I didn't say anything to her. She was just showing me some plants and then suddenly she's off." Jack answered, exasperated.

"Well think Jack! What was the last thing you were talking about?" Martha asked, earnestly. Jack thought for a few seconds but came up blank.

"Just plants. She was showing me this plant that spurted bubbles and then Jay. Oh." Jack stopped. "It was after she talked about Jay." He concluded.

"Did she already know about the threat? Before us? Did she run to protect Jay?" Martha asked insistently.

"No, Jay is with Rhys. Gwen knows that, and Gwen would trust Gwen Rhys with her own life, as well as Jay's." Lois said. The Torchwood team stood there in the car park for a few more minutes when a clap of thunder from the dark, violent looking sky seemed to snap them from their thought.

"Well, it's no use standing out here. That ain't going to do us any good. We got to get inside and identify the threat and start a defence." Mickey said. Everyone seemed to agree and began to run back inside.

The sky was beginning to attract a lot of attention. People were staring up at it as the rolling clouds swirled and the sky was turning blacker by the minute. More black than what a simple thunderstorm would create. The sky itself seemed to begin to swirl and bend like an optical illusion.

Back in the Hub everyone, including Jack, huddled around a computer monitor to look at the black mass. "It's coming at an increasing speed. Do you think its crash landing?" Lois suggested.

"It's too big. The surface area isn't solid; it's broken and far too big. It's like a herd or something." Jack said. "It looks more like an attack."

"Well what are we going to do? At this rate, it will be breaking through the atmosphere in less than 10 minutes." Lois pointed out. Mickey stood there and seemed to be cleaning his ear out.

"Oh Mickey! Is this really the time?" Martha said through clenched teeth.

"Can't you hear that?" He said still wiggling his finger in his ear in an attempt to clear his hearing. At this statement, everyone paused and listened. There was a faint sound, like a screeching sound, but very far away. The alarm had stopped, so it was ruled out, it didn't sound like the alarm anyway. But it sounded familiar to Jack. Too familiar. It was getting progressively louder. It was the mysterious herd coming towards Earth. They were screaming their war cry before they even hit the atmosphere. A sudden thought horrified Jack. He began running out of the building again. Outside on the pavement, surrounded by curious civilians, Jack looked up in horror.

"Not here." He said out loud. "No, please, not here, not now!" He cried.

Gwen sat silently sobbing. She leaned against the cold stone and sobbed harder. She stroked the name carved gracefully into the gravestone. "Why did he have to come back?" She mumbled through her tears. "Why did he have to fucking come back!" She said louder and hit the ground hard in frustration. "He can't leave things alone." She stood up and straightened the flowers she'd knocked over when she'd collapsed by the stone. "You always made it easier Ianto. It was like you could exercise a little bit of control over him, tell him when to stop. God I wish you were here. I wish you were all here, Tosh, even Owen. Aaargh!" She screamed in utter despair. Her insides felt like a hurricane of turmoil, it was the only way she could think to express her anger and confusion. "What the fuck is Torchwood, Ianto? What's the fucking point in it all? We all die eventually. A large clap of thunder made her look towards the sky. "I mean look!" She yelled pointing at the sky, she knew that wasn't a thunderstorm, it was something probably following Jack, something that would rip the Earth to ribbons to find him most likely. "Something else trying to destroy the Earth. And what if it succeeds? Who has to die in vain? Whose family is going to have to mourn and then die as something else tries to silence such a fucking noisy planet?" She started to laugh hysterically. "What about Jay? When I die, what happens to him? I'll leave him without a mother because I was trying to protect the planet. Now is that selfish? He doesn't deserve that. I know heartbreak. I know mourning. How could I let him go through that? But what if I quit? Give up! Then what? Aliens come to Earth and attack? Kill me? Leave him motherless anyway?

What is the point Ianto? I wish to heaven and hell you were here right now to tell me what to do because I don't know anymore. I thought I knew what I wanted but when Jack turned up, I thought for a second, just a second, what would it be like to run away like he does? Leave responsibility behind? Leave everyone who could hurt me, leave them behind?" Gwen sighed and looked back at the grave again. "Tell me what to do." But the grave remained silent. She picked a flower from the vase on the grave and twiddled it in her fingers. Then she took a deep breath and walked away, tearing at the flower, leaving petal after petal in her wake.

"7 minutes to impact!" Lois yelled over the noise of the storm. Martha was on the phone to London telling them to install any defence they could get to work in the next seven minutes. Mickey was setting all the weapons available to him online via his desktop. Lois was watching her monitor desperately as the enormous black mass propelled ever closer to Earth. Jack was still outside; he had dropped to his knees, his hands over his ears as the screeching got louder and louder. Around him people were beginning to understand it wasn't a thunderstorm disturbing the sky and panic had begun to set in as people ran and screamed. It seemed the world was crashing down, the thunder making every surface shake violently. On his knees Jack thought desperately why it had come to this. If this happened he would have nothing left, nothing.

The weather was still deteriorating dramatically. Soaked to the skin Gwen sat down on a bench and faced the familiar water feature. It was tall and sleek, a replacement for the one that had been destroyed 7 years ago. The water tumbled silently, merging with the rain. She wished anything that she could meet that Doctor Jack used to talk about all those years ago. She could really use one right now. Even more she wished for a time machine, all she wanted was to go back in time. She was beginning to get a headache, she felt like all she could hear was this screeching. She bowed her head and rubbed it softly. Yes if only she could find Jack's damn miracle Doctor, to fix everything.

"6 minutes to impact!" Lois called, now rapidly making phone calls all over the world alerting other countries, who too were experiencing the storm, it appeared the mass was circling the planet and were going to attack it all sides.

"Where the Hell is Gwen?" Mickey yelled as the thunder was now starting to physically shake the Earth. Now the loud piercing screeching was apparent and everyone had to yell over it to be heard. He looked at a battered leather strap on a desk that had been confiscated and had an idea.

Gwen began to realise the screeching wasn't inside her head and she squinted up through the rain. The sky was nearly pitch-black now. It was trouble. She was needed. Like a sixth sense she felt urgency but it wasn't hers. Gwen herself now finally felt quite calm, almost peaceful. Suddenly her pocket began buzzing. She reached inside her jacket and removed a leather wrist strap she had confiscated weeks ago from a young blowfish, there had been a pair of them. She couldn't remember why she had held onto one. Gwen didn't know what to do, so she just flicked it open. A hologram of Mickey appeared. It kept getting distorted with disturbance. He seemed to sigh with relief, "Gwen! ... Have to get back her Boss… need you, 5 minutes…impact… It's-" And the hologram cut out completely. Gwen's eyes widened in shock. She got up immediately, stuffed the strap back in her pocket and looked around. But she was in Cardiff Bay. How was she going to get back to the police station? There were no taxis, everyone seemed to have gone. She just begun to run hoping she might figure something out in time.

"5 minutes to impact" Lois yelled desperately now. She was no longer at her desk but rushing past trying to collect any weapons she could. At that moment a completely sodden Jack walked slowly into the office.

"No use." He croaked. His hair was plastered flat to his head and tears mingled with the rain still pouring down his handsome face. "The screeching." His sobbed and shook his head, gulped some air like he'd held his breath underwater and said, "It's happening again."

Her feet were splashing through deep puddles of water as the rain beat down making her clothes heavy and making Gwen feel sluggish and too slow. She stopped, gasping for air. A stitch in her side caused agony with every intake of breath, her shoes filled with water, her dark hair dangling in clumps uselessly down her head. She looked around. She was never going to make it. But she knew now. She knew why she did what she did. Did it everyday, risked her life and fought things some people couldn't even imagine. Gwen couldn't explain it. But it was in her heart and knew this feeling meant she had to get back and help. She picked up her feet again, running would be better than just standing there. She wouldn't give up.

"4 minutes to impact!" Lois hollered. Then she turned to Jack. "What do you mean "again"? Has this happened before?" Jack just stood there. Then the screeching became louder than ever and Jack cried out, as if in pain and fell to his knees with his hands over his ears again. "Jack? Jack!" Lois ran over ad knelt down beside him. "Jack you have to tell me. What is this? When did it happen? How do we stop it?" She shook his shoulders a little bit but it didn't help he just continued to shake his head. "No use." He croaked again, "Worse than death!" He moaned, "Worse than death."

Gwen cried out, every breath torture. She couldn't run anymore, she still had a few miles to go and would never make it, her stitch felt like it was tearing her insides. Exasperated she looked around desperately for any help. The screeching was right in her head making it hard to think. She checked her watch, less than 4 minutes before whatever creature or creatures that were heading for Earth would break through and wreak havoc. "There must be something!" She cried out loud in desperation.

Lois' timer hit 3 minutes but she was still sitting with Jack that she didn't notice. She tried coaxing him, then pleading, "Jack please! What can we do? How do we stop this?" Then Jack seemed to snap, lifting his hands away from his ears,

"Don't you see? We can't!" He cried, lifting himself back onto his feet. "The screeching! They are worse than death! They came to my home planet! They destroyed it! The beautiful Boeshane Peninsula. They only leave destruction, don't you understand? You can't stop it; you can't run from it, they only kill! Or torture you into madness until you plead for death! They killed my father! All I can remember is their cry! Cry for blood, for destruction and death, the screeching!" Lois looked at Jack, horrified, his eyes had become a blaze, and his face hollow as the memories drove fear to his very core, his skin whiter than death and his whole body shaking, petrified. "They can't be stopped!"

"Two minutes, oh my god." Gwen looked at her watch. Wait! Watch! Wrist strap! Gwen dug the leather from her pocket and flicked it open. She had no idea how to work it but prayed it was the teleportation device she had activated. She closed her eyes and felt that jolt in her navel, like when moving in a lift. When she opened her eyes she was greeted by the gob smacked faces of Lois and Jack. Lois look dishevelled and stressed. Jack, well Jack looked a hundred years old. His eyes had sunk and darkened, cheeks sallow and hollowed out, skin white as porcelain and eyes as wide as saucers. It was the features of pure terror. That was not a good sign.

"Lois, what's happening?" Gwen asked,

"How did you…?" Lois asked slowly, her sentence unfinished as she couldn't seem to find the right words to ask how Gwen had just appeared in front of her.

"Lois I don't have time for this, tell me what's happening!" Gwen sounded exasperated.

"I don't know, I can't identify this giant mass heading for Earth, due for impact in-" She checked her watch, "Oh my god, 60 seconds! And all I know is when Jack heard the screeching he just completely lost his mind!" She said desperately.

"What did he say?" Gwen asked, trying to hide the panic in her voice. At this Jack spoke up, his eyes filling with tears, knowing that finally, someone would understand,

"The worst possible creatures imaginable." He said. The screeching had reached a pitch, Jack looked like his ears were about to bleed, he rushed over to Gwen and embraced her and whispered in her ear. Even over the noise of the screams she heard him clearly,

"The ones who took Gray from me."


	6. It's Complicated

Gwen stood, mouth gaping, staring at Jack's terrified face. Then Lois, Mickey and Martha walked over, holding hands and Martha took Gwen's hand, a silent tear tracked down her face. Gwen took Jack's hand and it seemed to comfort him a little.

"Here they come." Lois' voice was remarkably calm. Gwen turned and looked at Lois' timer on her computer screen-

10

She didn't feel ready

9

She wanted Rhys and Jay so badly at that moment it choked her

8

She loaded her gun, she was going to fight to the end, and raised her hand to take the heavy wrist strap off

7

The strap was being awkward, it would affect her aim

6

She hoped she would come out of this alive

5

So she could tell her husband and son how much she loved them

4

Bloody strap

3

She tried to give it a final tug

2

Gwen closed her eyes

1

There was a jolt in her naval

0

Gwen opened her eyes, gun cocked, stuff the strap, she thought, it wouldn't affect her shot too badly anyway. But Gwen had to do a double take. Everybody had gone. She was alone. And she wasn't in the Hub. She was in an abandoned warehouse, she guessed, as she studied her surroundings. What the…

The jolt.

Gwen realised that the tug on the wrist strap had caused it to activate.

Gwen looked down at the battered leather on her arm. It flashed at her, "Destination Reached: 22nd October 2006"

"Oh my God" Gwen said out loud. The realisation settled heavily in her stomach. She'd actually gone back in time. Gwen headed for the door and out into a deserted car park. She soon recognised the industrial estate and knew she wasn't far out of the city. Gwen began to jog back into the city centre. She sure was tired of running today.

Gwen tried to rack her brains. She sometimes struggled to remember what she had done a week ago, now she had to seriously remember a specific day of her life 11 years ago. Because of her job, Jack had reluctantly given her a short brief on the basic rules of time travel. The one rule that was stuck in her mind right now was, "You can't meet yourself in your personal timeline." Jack had then gone on about paradoxes or something but Gwen couldn't remember that much. Perhaps she might have paid more attention if she ever had the slightest suspicion she might actually travel in time.

"Right, concentrate. Let's start with the basics." Gwen thought to herself. "Let's start with 11 years ago." Gwen sat down on a low wall, conveniently running along side the walkway she was on. It began to rain. Gwen looked up at the sky and the rain started to slide slowly down her face. Her small leather jacket was waterproof, but without a hood, Gwen didn't feel exactly dry. She lowered her head again, and began brainstorming her past. The rain was beginning to make her hair cling to her face. "2006, 2006." Gwen started mumbling out loud, in aid of her concentration. Then it clicked. 2006 was the last year she was in the police force, before Jack hired her in…

October.

The 22nd was the first day she came across Torchwood. She thought. She knew exactly where to head to check she got her dates right.

There were numerous large multi-storey car parks in Cardiff. Not surprising, for a capital city. However, there was one near a small industrial estate that would remain in Gwen's memory forever. It had been a long walk, but the more the day came back to her, she knew she had the time. As it was, she heard the sirens from the police cars. Gwen quickly ducked into a near alleyway in case she was in one of the police cars and recognised herself. Wow, time travel could be really complicated, Gwen thought. But it was probably only the start of the complications, she sighed.

Gwen rounded the corner and was met by a lot of police tape barring her way to a crime scene. Gwen pulled her jacket collar as high up as she could in an attempt to cover as much of her face as possible. Only a few yards away she watched Andy greet her former self as she sipped from a steamy polystyrene cup. Oh my god, I'm going to see me, Gwen thought. She turned on her heel and disappeared back to the dark alley.

Gwen's heart was pounding extremely fast. She heard footsteps approaching, and held her breath. A ghost walked past and took the breath Gwen had been holding in. She covered her mouth as Tosh continued past. Gwen thought she was going to pass out as Tosh was followed by Owen and Susie. No one had thought to look in the dark, damp alley where a time traveller lurked.

Apart from a fellow traveller.

On his way past Jack glanced and saw a pale face, with contrasting dark hair plastered to it, hiding in the shadows. The stranger took him by surprise and the glance was so quick he couldn't be sure he'd seen it but he continued walking as his priorities lay elsewhere for the moment.

Her mind raced rapidly as Gwen tried to guess as to whether Jack had actually seen her or not. Was that how she got her job? Jack already had her imprinted on his mind before he even met her in her own present? This was indeed getting extremely complicated and Gwen had only been stuck in the past for a few hours. By now she was wondering what had brought her to this day. She hadn't consciously chosen the date; she assumed that the wrist strap had transported her randomly. But Gwen couldn't kid herself. She was here for a reason. She just needed to figure out why she was here, and how she was going to get back to her present and fight for her family, friends and planet against the screaming creatures. But what could possibly be important about the day she discovered Torchwood? Until she saw the glove she, like everybody else, just thought of them as "Special Ops". Did the glove have anything to do with her jumping back to this day? No. She wouldn't go near that thing again. There was something else, staring her in the face, yet she couldn't figure it out. On the up side, she thought, she had 11 years to figure this out if she was stuck here.

Gwen suddenly heard Jack yell, and the echo was haunting, "What do you think?" She knew she'd sat in that damp alley while another Gwen had the most surreal experience of her life. She had to speak to Jack. That was why she came back to this point in time. She had to talk to Jack, before her past self changed him and his way of thinking, she had to have a talk with the cold, analytical Jack, who might talk about his past and about his previous attack from the Screaming creatures.

Gwen spent the next 12 hours following her old self. It was one of the most bizarre things she'd ever done, and that was saying something. She wrapped her small jacket tighter around her as she watched from a distance as the dark figure by the water tower continued to pace. She knew exactly what that dark figure was thinking. "Where did that Jack Harkness go? How do I find him?" Gwen knew exactly when and how she was going to approach Jack. She even had strong suspicions about Jack's reactions. She finally saw PC Gwen Cooper walk away, heading towards Jubilee Pizza. She then saw the same PC trotting back cautiously with an armful of pizza. She knew she'd have to wait a while so went to get a hot coffee. She returned and finally saw Jack and his companion emerges and head off for a local bar. This was going to be her opportunity. After Jack drugged her they headed in different directions, leaving a gap where Jack would be alone briefly before returning to the Hub.

Gwen hung around the corner in the direction Jack would come, her breath becoming short and ragged as she got nervous. She knew this was probably affecting history, but she knew only Jack could help her situation and she had to get back to her own present.

After some time passed she watched another Gwen stagger from the bar wearing a horrified expression. After some bitter exchanges Gwen stormed off and Jack turned on his heel and walked the other way. Mrs. Williams took a deep breath and stepped out in front of him. Jack stumbled backwards and looked back to see what appeared to be the same woman still running. He turned back to the woman in front of him. "Well if I knew you'd be twins, tonight might have ended differently." He grinned.

"Oh shut up Jack." Gwen rolled her eyes. "I'm not a twin. I need your help."

"I need to know who you are first." Jack said, his attitude switching to a business-like approach.

"You'd never have anyone's help if they said that to you when you asked for help." She replied crisply. "It's a really long story and I never forgave you for retconning me by the way." She added as the clincher. She began to walk away.

"Gwen Cooper!" She heard Jack call from behind her. She turned back slowly, keeping her grin to a minimum. "You sound like you're from the future." He stated, getting straight to the point.

"11 years to be exact." She replied.

"You don't look like a PC anymore." He said.

"I'm not." She replied simply. Jack paused for a second

"How did you get here?" He asked. She pulled her sleeve up and revealed the leather wrist strap. "Where did you get that?" He asked nervously. "Did I give that to you?"

"No. It's not yours. I picked it up from some space debris, I thought it looked familiar, and as you can see, it works. I just kept it in my pocket and found use of it, although, coming here was a complete accident." She explained.

"You work for Torchwood." It wasn't a question.

"I need your help." Gwen repeated.

"Getting back?"

"And what I face when I get there." Gwen said grimly. Jack's eyebrows rose. "Before I came here, we were faced with an alien threat. One we can't fight. We have no idea what they are but you told me they were the same aliens that took Gray." Gwen said carefully. Jack stood open mouthed at this.

"That's not possible." He whispered sounding more like the Jack Gwen had left in the future. "They can't come here; they're from a different universe."

"But you said." She insisted. "They screeched like nothing I've heard before, it could make your ears bleed and they just left a large dark mass on our scanning technology."

"They can't come here." Jack repeated firmly. "It's not possible. Go home Gwen Cooper, and don't try time travel again. It's far too dangerous if you don't know what you're doing."

"I didn't come here on purpose! The wrist strap brought me here, you have to help me!"

"The wrist strap will only go where it is programmed to go. If you didn't set it, someone sent you here or planned to come here themselves before you stole their property, now go back before you do some permanent damage!" Jack barked before turning to leave. Gwen looked stung.

"The 21st Century is when it all changed, Jack, and we weren't ready!" She yelled at his back. Jack stopped dead and turned slowly back to face her.

"We have to be ready." He said, his voice taking a dangerous tone.

"Trust me Jack, I was there. We weren't ready. If you send me back I don't know what will be left. I left a world that was about to end, you have to help me. No one else can."

"I don't know what you want from me!" He yelled

"Answers!" She screamed back.


	7. Answers

Jack simply stared at Gwen. "And you think I have all the answers?" He said.

"I think you have some answers that can help me."

"I think you're overestimating my brilliance. It's easily done." Jack said smoothly.

"What were the creatures that took Gray?" Gwen allowed the previous comment to slide.

"The worst possible creatures you could imagine." Jack said with a haunting echo in his voice. Gwen could see Jack reliving horrific images in his mind by the twinkle in his eye snuffing out like a candle, replaced with a dark, hollow emptiness.

"But what are they?" She insisted.

"Indescribable. You couldn't comprehend their, their _inhumanity_." Jack struggled to use terminology Earth-bound Gwen could understand.

"Try me. I've seen the end of the world. And I think I'm about to see it again, exactly the same as what happened to you." She replied.

"It's not possible. They couldn't come to this dimension, they're extremely blood thirsty, but their own galaxy is large enough to sustain them. Not even the Rift would pick them up." He explained.

"Well whatever they are, they are huge, I mean enormous, completely ripped the sky in half forcing their way through." Gwen added.

"Then they are not the same creatures." Jack concluded simply. "The day they arrived was the worst day of my life, so I remember it vividly, your description doesn't match."

"But you said." Gwen was struggling to swallow this new information. Jack's brow furrowed,

"When?"

"Oh, in the future, when we heard them coming, the screaming." She explained. "You were terrified. I have never seen you like that before." Gwen remembered Jack's face, the way he cowered, truly unlike Jack and truly someone scared to death.

Jack looked thoroughly perplexed but also his eyes began to shine as the memory forced itself to the front of his conscience and he heard it again. "They screamed yes. You could hear it before they came."

"These _things_ scream a sound I've never heard before. It's the most horrible sound I've ever heard." She said sadly.

"These creatures sound really bad, but I promise you they are not the same ones that destroyed the Peninsula." Jack looked Gwen right in the eye and she looked deep in his bright blue pools but saw nothing but honesty.

"But I don't understand. In the future, did you get confused? Were you lying? Why would you say that?" Gwen's voice began to rise.

"Gwen, this hasn't happened to me yet, I can't help you with that." Jack said.

"So if they're not the same creatures that took Gray, we have a chance right?" Gwen tried to sound hopeful.

"Maybe." Jack said vaguely.

"Oh my God, it might not be the end of the world. We can fight this!" Gwen said, mostly to herself.

"Yeah I think you should get back to your own time before you start messing things up here." Jack advised. Gwen looked at him stunned. They had been standing on this street corner for a while, traffic rolling past occasionally. It had been pretty quiet. It was just far enough away from the bar that they weren't being disturbed. But Gwen now had a problem.

"I don't know how to get back."

Jack was terrified. He didn't know why. He had faced so many dangers, and was a man who could not die. Gwen had suddenly let go of his hand and disappeared. He looked about but only saw his own puzzled expression reflected in the familiar faces around him. The screaming continued, Jack's face crumpled in agony as the creatures echoed the monsters of his childhood, the ones that ripped his family apart and left him fatherless. But the screams weren't the same. In a moment of pause Jack evaluated his situation. He was wrong. And that doesn't happen often. When his past crawled back under his consciousness he was able to think clearly. It _was_ the worst day of his life, but this wasn't that day again. It could never happen again. But Gwen had let go of his hand. That had happened again.

Jack stood up straight and brought his gun out of its holster. He'd had enough of being afraid, of being haunted. Time always came full circle; history repeats itself and all that jargon. Was this meant to be closure? Was he finally supposed to find peace? But it wasn't just Gray. He had lost so much more, so many people. 150 years is a very long time, even longer when everyone you love dies and leaves you behind. Did that mean he was not meant to love? Or be loved? Where was all this philosophy coming from? A deep rumbling roused Jack from his epiphany. The team looked in his direction, saw his eyes had dried, his shaking had stopped and his gun was cocked ready to fight. The rumbling was like an earthquake. The wailing was deafening, mingled with the alarms and screaming from civilians. The team could hear the police rushing around upstairs. This was going to take a while to clean up. "Bagsie not doing the paper work." Jack said dryly.

Jack stood mouth agape at the woman in front of him. "How did you get here?" Jack scratched his head.

"I already told you, wrist strap." Gwen held her arm up again.

"Come here. I'll have a look." Jack beckoned. Gwen walked slowly up to him. She held out her arm and Jack twisted his head so he could see it at the right angle. He flipped it open and checked it out. "Slightly different to mine, perhaps it's a bit younger, a new generation, if you like, kinda like an iPod." Jack explained. He tapped several buttons but the strap simply beeped at him. "Hmm." He said, mostly to himself. "It may be a little broken." He said slowly.

"It can't be broken, I need to get back." Gwen replied urgently.

"I think I'm gonna have to bring you back to the Hub." Jack smiled, "Let's go change history. You know if this goes wrong, you might not have a future to get back to." Jack's face was very serious. Gwen nodded and began walking in the direction of the Hub. Jack followed.

Everyone stood ready and the roof shook, cracks began to appear and rubble fell from it. "We best get outta here, we won't be any good crushed." Jack shouted, an attempt to be heard over the increasing noise. They all ran to the door and passed through the reception and up the stairs to the police station entrance. It was chaos. Most were evacuating and it looked like the team were going to get crushed. They began to run with the flow to avoid the stampede.

It was dark outside. Bodies were lying in the street. The mysterious aliens left dark, black clouds swirling in the sky and through the streets. Their screaming pierced the atmosphere, civilians running with their hands over bleeding ears, the blood seeping through shaking fingers. As they stood with their guns ready the whole team felt the blood begin to drip down from their ears to their necks. Each swung round trying to identify the aliens but the only physical sign of them was the billowing black smoke that forced itself through people's chests, the victims dropping as the dark mass burst through the other side of them. Jack saw a tear fall down Martha's cheek and mingle with the drop of blood heading in the same direction down her neck.

Owen raised his eyebrows when PC Cooper strode back into the Hub and straight to Susie's workstation. She started tapping on the keyboard like she knew what she was doing. Jack strolled in moments later and simply began to walk up to his office. "Err…" Owen began,

"Don't worry. She knows what she's doing." Jack assured him.

"I thought you were going to Retcon her, not let her have playtime on a workstation." He moaned.

"Excuse me Owen even Retconned I could get more work done than you." Gwen said over her shoulder. Owen sat open-mouthed.

"What happened? Is this Retcon in reverse?" Owen asked only half joking.

"Owen, I did Retcon her. This is Gwen from the future." Jack explained.

"But if you've Retconned her, how come she knows how to work around the Hub?" He asked.

"It's hard to explain Owen, just don't worry about it." Jack sighed.

_Minutes earlier…_

_ "Jack, I have to get into the Hub. I need the resources and I need you to fix my wrist strap." Gwen said._

"_But it will affect history. I Retconned you. You can't come back!" Jack explained. Gwen pondered this for a moment._

"_Not unless you cancel it." She said slowly. Jack looked puzzled. "Retcon. You Retcon them and they won't remember I've been back. You could even take a dose yourself. Then no one will be any the wiser." She said happily. Jack looked very unsure._

"_That is a lot of tampering."_

"_I'll be tampering a lot more if I don't get back." Gwen replied darkly. This seemed to sway Jack in favour so they began the descent into the Hub._

Owen still looked uneasy so Jack walked through and stood beside Gwen. In his hand was, what Owen assumed, Jack's own wrist strap, but with a bit of scrutiny he could tell it was the wrong shape and size. Jack sat down and began fiddling with the strap. Gwen continued to type furiously. "Jack!" Gwen whispered. He looked up. "This is going to sound really crazy, but I have an idea."


End file.
